Ray Lewis probably has one last dance to do in front of Baltimore's home crowd before Sunday's wild-card playoff game vs. the Colts. / Mitch Stringer, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports

Break out those No. 52 jerseys, Baltimore Ravens fans, because Sunday probably will be the last time you see Ray Lewis patrolling the field at M&T Bank Stadium.

The longtime face of the franchise announced Wednesday that he will retire after the playoffs following 17 mostly sterling seasons, telling his teammates that "this will be my last ride."

"I talked to my team today, and I talked to them about life in general," Lewis told news reporters at the Ravens' Owings Mills, Md., headquarters. "Everything that starts has to end.

"I just felt so much peace in my decision because of everything I've done in this league.

"I've only played the game to make my team be a better team. And now God is calling in so many other areas of life. And my children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father. ... I've done what I've wanted to do in this business.

"I'll make this last run with my team, and I'll give (the Ravens) everything I've got."

Lewis, who has missed 10 games since tearing his right triceps Oct. 15, called this a bittersweet time. Though he has missed being in the Ravens locker room full time in recent weeks, he has relished the opportunity to watch his sons play high school football. His oldest son, Ray Lewis III, will enroll at the University of Miami (Fla.) in the fall.

"I can't miss that," said Ray Lewis, who promised he wouldn't miss watching his son's games at his alma mater.

Lewis' final NFL season won't go down as one of his most memorable. He has been feverishly rehabbing his injury, which is a season ender for most NFL players, for the past three months. But he couldn't forgo an opportunity to make one more run at a Lombardi Trophy.

"I'm not going out like this," Lewis said he told Baltimore general manager Ozzie Newsome after he was initially hurt. "Pain was the last thing on my mind."

He was activated from the club's short-term injured reserve list Dec. 26 but didn't suit up in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.

He plans to be in uniform Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round and says his arm is 100% healed.

"I was challenged to be that leader from afar," Lewis said. "It's always good to be back in the saddle.

"I've probably been through just the craziest 12 weeks of training (to get back)."

Colts coach Chuck Pagano became a big Lewis fan while serving as the Ravens defensive coordinator.

"Nobody studied the game and prepared as well as Ray, and he taught so many how to do that," Pagano said in a conference call Wednesday. "He is such a great mentor, such a great leader in that respect. He always had great insight and great perspective, not only going into a game but for what was transpiring on that football field, and he communicated that not only to myself but to many coordinators before me. He was awesome."

The only scenario that would allow for another Ravens home game this season would require them to host the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game.

"It's amazing, and it's sad all at the same time," Baltimore outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said of his longtime teammate's choice to hang up the pads.

Suggs added: "If this is going to be our last ride, we need to make it one to remember."

Lewis said, "It's time for me to create a new legacy."

Few NFL legacies are more impressive.

Lewis has been a member of the Ravens since the team came into existence in the 1996 season as the rechristened and relocated Cleveland Browns.

He was a first-round pick (along with Jonathan Ogden) in the franchise's first Baltimore draft and went on to become a 13-time Pro Bowler, seven-time first-team all-pro and two-time NFL defensive player of the year. His work habits in the weight room, film room and practice field are the stuff of legend.

If he's not the greatest middle linebacker in league history he's on a very short list.

"When you talk about great defensive players, Ray ranks favorably with the (Lawrence Taylors), the Reggie Whites, the Dick Butkuses, whoever you want to put up there. I don't think you can go very far without talking about Ray Lewis and his accomplishments," said Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, who played with Lewis and is a CBS analyst.

"Seventy-five to 80% of people will say Ray was the greatest middle linebacker whoever lived. Some will say Dick Butkus. Some will say this one or Mike Singletary. That's always subject to debate."

Lewis is the lone remaining player from the Ravens' 2000 title team, whose calling card was the Lewis-led defense that is among the best of all time. He was the MVP of Baltimore's 34-7 win vs. the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

There's little doubt Lewis will join his boss, Newsome, in the Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible.

"Ray Lewis will not only be remembered as one of the greatest to play his position, he will also be thought of as one of the greatest players in NFL history. And he is one of the greatest without a doubt," Newsome, who was enshrined for his work as a Browns tight end, said in a statement.

"He had the one quality all of the best have: He made all the players, coaches and people around him better. It has been a privilege and a joy to be with him throughout his career. We in the Ravens have been very fortunate to be around this great man and player."

And Lewis certainly will be defined by far more than his bonecrushing hits and sideline-to-sideline play.

He long has provided the emotional fuel for the Ravens, and his stadium-amping pregame dance became a calling card.

Perhaps more importantly, Lewis became a mentor and father figure to teammates and numerous players around the league as his career progressed. He often refers to his deep Christian faith and has been enlisted as a motivational speaker at various venues, including Harvard's business school.

Lewis' coach with the 2000 Ravens, Brian Billick, still marvels at the field general who helped him get a ring.

"When you as a coach stand in front of your 53 quasi-millionaires and there's Ray Lewis - front and center, book open, eyes at the ready - and you've got some rookie or second-year player slouched down in the back, book's not open because he doesn't know what it's like to be a professional ... what a great opportunity I had as a coach and anybody who's coached Ray to say, 'Are you kidding me?' " recalls Billick, who said veterans were perfectly happy to let Lewis lead even when he'd only been a pro for four years.

"If he saw someone who was not being a professional, you knew at some point he was going to cozy up to him and throw his arm around him. And not be the kind to embarrass him or call him out but pull him aside and say, 'Hey, let's go look at some film. Let me show you where you ought to be looking. Let's get another set of reps in the weight room. Let's stay after practice and go over a couple of things with you.' He did that all the time."

It's all quite a contrast to those long-ago images of him in an orange jumpsuit in Georgia before he agreed to a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice after being initially indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges stemming from an Atlanta homicide in January 2000.

However, it didn't take long for Lewis to rebrand his image, and the Atlanta incident (all those charged were acquitted, and no one was ever convicted of the crime) seemed to quickly recede.

"In recent history, I can't really think of a player who has been as valuable to a team as Ray has been," former teammate Jamal Lewis said. "He's a different player, as far as his physicality, his passion off the field, his work ethic, and at the same time he can lead vocally. You don't have all of that in one player, and I think that's what makes him a Hall of Famer and probably the best linebacker to ever play the game."

Jamal Lewis added: "I think when you have a guy like him who is on a pedestal, when you have someone like that who is removed from the situation, somebody else will rise to the occasion. Those young players came in there following Ray Lewis, learning from Ray Lewis, being around Ray Lewis in the locker room every day. He instilled a lot in a lot of players. Somebody else will rise to the occasion. He was the standard of what the Baltimore Ravens attitude is all about."

Billick has one memory from the 2000 team he feels accurately sums up No. 52.

"We were playing Cleveland and we had a record number of shutouts going. That was important to that team. They wanted to get shutouts," Billick recalled.

"Well we open up the game and (the Browns) proceed to go 86 yards on the opening drive to score. So the shutout is gone. Well, as the defense is coming off the field, I'm walking down the sideline getting ready to do my head-coaching thing, and Ray is the first one off. And he just says, 'Don't say a thing. I've got it.' So I make a hard left turn to the Gatorade, going, 'OK.' And they had (112) yards total for the day.